Late May, 1966
"How much...further?" Erik asked, breathing heavily, forgetting for a moment that he didn't need to speak aloud. Charles was able to communicate to his mind and perfectly able to hear his response via his thoughts. But he had been navigating the concrete built, underground tunnels for, in his opinion, a far greater amount of time than he was happy with. It was beginning to bring back some painful memories and he was aware that Charles would know this.
"You're almost there," Charles answered in his mind, "Take the next right and open the second door, the combination is 23971."
"Guards?"
"Four, all frozen for the moment."
"You know, Charles, you take all the fun out of espionage," Erik thought back.
"You're welcome."
"How's our unexpected distraction coming along?" the German asked as he rounded the next corner and typed in the access code, taking care not to jostle the sleeping men.
"I think Raven is rather enjoying herself far too much."
"I don't blame her," Erik chuckled.
"As her older brother, I'm rather concerned that you've corrupted her with your illegality," Charles remarked.
"It didn't take much effort on my part, trust me," Erik deadpanned, smiling as he flicked on the lights. A large room was revealed under sterile lighting, filled with metal filing cabinets and thick safes built into the walls. "Jackpot," he muttered.
"You're enjoying this far too much, my friend."
"So sue me," the German replied quickly. "Where am I looking?" he asked.
"There should be a safe behind a panel in the west wall," Charles said and Erik placed his hands against the wall, expanding his senses to locate the metal in the concrete wall. He quickly found it on the lower sections of the wall and, after Charles gave him the combination, he opened it. "Find the file called 'Operation Imelda' and replace it with the one Alex gave to you...and you best be quick; Azazel is almost ready to meet you."
"Imelda," Erik repeated incredulously, "Who's idea was that?" He stowed the document inside his jacket where the forged one had previously rested and then he closed the safe, leaving it as he had found it.
"Comrade," Azazel spoke as he appeared in a puff of black smoke behind Erik.
"Let's go," the German nodded.
'Operation Imelda' was a CIA plan which would initially locate and recruit mutants, but it was the second phase of the plan which worried them; it involved experimentation ideas on the mutants they 'recruited'. Naturally, Erik had been furious, saying all along how he'd been right and that he would take his revenge by slaughtering each and every man and woman within the facility. Charles' plan had been a little more covert. His plan had been to eradicate all traces, both tangible and memorised, of the Operation before it could even start.
Alex had gone to another office on site and had removed the primary plans, Erik went to the safe while Raven posed as one of the agents responsible for the creation of the plans and wiped the computer records, replacing them with another, less harmful plan. Whilst she'd been doing that, however, an agent had walked into the office and she'd decided to distract him rather than allow Charles to simply freeze him. She'd distracted him in such as way as Angel would have been proud, her brother on the other hand was less than impressed.
Azazel had taken Alex into the facility leaving Erik to make his own way, insisting that it was better to take the opportunity to learn what he could about the site while he had the chance. The telepath had already wiped the minds of everyone who knew even the name 'Operation Imelda'. He alone had uncovered the full extent of the plans when he used Cerebro to infiltrate the minds of those responsible for its creation and though he'd told his friends of the basic idea, he'd not divulged every last detail.
"Raven, that's enough, I'll send Azazel to get you. We're done here," Charles told her and she sighed.
"Really?" she asked.
"Really. This wasn't meant to be fun," he replied.
Erik and Azazel stepped out of the maximum security safe room and the German locked the door, leaving all as he'd found it so's not to raise any suspicion. As he turned he eyed the frozen guards and once again his anger surfaced. He knew that these specific men hadn't created the plan and that they were merely following orders in guarding the facility, but it still made his blood boil. Erik took stock of the gun at the nearest man's side and he went to reach for it.
"Erik, don't," Charles warned.
"Charles, we can stop this plan, and the next one and the next one, but they'll keep on coming. The only way we can..."
"Killing them isn't the answer and you know it," the telepath interrupted and Erik sighed in frustrated agreement. "Azazel, Raven is in the office you left her in," he said in a more business-like manner.
The red skinned mutant nodded and after lightly touching Erik's shoulder, teleported them both to Raven's location and then out into their car. Alex was already there in the driver's seat and the second they appeared, he turned the key in the ignition.
Erik took out the considerable file he'd removed from the facility and opened it, glancing down at the first page. "I'll take that, thank you," Charles said, holding out his hand.
"You never did get around to telling us just what was so terrible about these plans," the German remarked. "I've seen more than enough of government experiments to know that it won't involve little tea parties," he said through gritted teeth, clutching the file.
"I know, Erik, I think you've seen more of that than anyone should," Charles said grimly.
"So don't take me for some naïve little child, you know I'll find out and I'd rather you told me about it first."
Charles buried his face in his hands and sighed. "I suppose I haven't been very forthcoming, have I?" he murmured.
"Not exactly, prof," Alex gave a sad smile in the mirror as he drove.
"...Miss Frost is working with the CIA," the telepath confessed, "With Agent Stryker and Agent McCone, more specifically."
"What?!" Erik yelled, "For how long?"
"A few weeks now, 'Operation Imelda' was mostly her idea."
"Why would she..." Alex shrugged helplessly.
"She doesn't care about mutants, she only wants war. At first she went along with your recruiting plans, Erik and her goal was to find mutants for her cause but now..."
"She's replaced Shaw," Erik hissed.
"Yes," Charles nodded sadly. "No one in the CIA actually knows that she's a mutant - she is a telepath, all they know is that she's very 'anti mutant'."
"And Angel and Riptide are just going along with this?" the German said incredulously.
"It appears so," Charles answered, "Along with the others she's found."
"When were you planning on telling us?" Erik pinned his friend with an accusing stare.
"...I don't know..." the telepath breathed and leaned back in his seat, the exhaustion clear on his face.
His legs and back were both paining him and he had kept a tight lid on his discomfort all night, but being inside so many minds in order to carry out their plan had made it very difficult. He'd hardly slept since he'd first discovered Emma's secret and that hadn't been easy with her being a telepath able to resist his mental intrusions. Along with that, he'd been relying more and more on Cerebro to locate more mutants, after a while it became very tiring but once they were found and brought to the manor they needed training as well. Charles knew he needed to rest but there was always something else that needed to be done.
"Charles," Erik said.
"Hmm?" the telepath hummed without opening his eyes.
"We can hear your thoughts. You're projecting," the German told him and he furrowed his brow.
"...Apologies," Charles replied, snapping the lid firmly down on his thoughts once again. He hadn't even noticed that he'd been letting them loose, that's how tired he was.
"You're exhausted," Erik stated.
"I'm fine."
"Lair," Raven muttered.
"I'm gonna agree with Mystique on this one, prof," Alex remarked, "You look beat."
"Much obliged, Alex," Charles muttered.
"You need to rest," Erik told him.
"I am resting, I'm closing my eyes," the telepath replied stubbornly.
"You need real rest."
"And I'll get it as soon as we get back."
"I'll believe that when I see it," Erik muttered back.
"So...these Agent guys...are they gonna be a problem?" Alex asked after a minute.
"Stryker and McCone," Charles said heavily, "...Yes...they're shaping up to be a considerable problem, I'm afraid," he said.
"Nothing we can't handle," Raven replied.
"Don't underestimate them just because they're not mutants," Charles said. "Agent Stryker's mind in particular is...disciplined...ordered...different," he finished.
"What does that mean?" Azazel asked.
"It means that, combined with Miss Frost, they're a force to be reckoned with. They know about Shaw's helmet...she told them, which means whatever else she's planning she doesn't want me knowing about it."
"Could they...make one of them?" Raven asked.
"Quite possibly," Charles nodded.
"Then we do have a problem," she frowned.
"Yes, yes we do," he agreed.
